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Buying a EU residence permit

Any EU countries where you can do this?

An associate of mine would like to invest in my business, but the rules for him to come here is a lot of hassle. He has to show a business plan, marketing plan, 1 year of waiting time to maybe get an approval etc.

I've read there are quite a few EU countries which sell citizenship, residence permit etc. if you invest some money there.

Are there specifically any countries where you can get EU residence permit in exchange for investing?

It is not going to be considerably easier to obtain a residence permit based on investment in any other country either. I mean, your lazy friend will have to argue for his business/investment case, document things, wait for approval, etc. There is no way around it...

It's easier to get local citizenship and local residence permit. You have to read the fine print though about whether or not they give you a permanent eu residence permit that applies for the entire EU.

OP, there is no such thing as an EU Residency Permit, all residency permits are restricted to the Member State that they were issued in. Having an EU Residency in say Finland, does not give you the right to be a resident in any other EU Member State, though you can travel there for a limited period.

Even as a Long term resident, or citizen of the EU, if your friend wants to invest in your business and become a resident in Sweden, they have to still apply for Right of Residence, and can indeed be rejected, though less likely than if just applying direct to Sweden as non-EU.

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